Off to see the wizard.

Yesterday afternoon while I was watching the news a tornado watch was issued for some surrounding areas, including the county I live in.

Normally I just ignore them.  I know that sounds terrible, but I have been fortunate enough never to see a tornado in my area my whole life.  Plus, I'm a lover of crazy summer thunderstorms.

Last night was different though.  When the warning was issued I started to get anxious.  I was upset because I was scheduled to work at 11 last night, & I was planning to be napping when the wicked storm was supposed to hit.  DJ wasn't going to be home, & I was convinced that the house was going to be blown away without me knowing.  He assured me I was crazy, like usual.

Although I slept a little, I kept having bad dreams & ended up waking up long before my alarm was set to go off.

I turned on the news, & what do you know?

The report was bad.  The storm was headed to us, & would be on top of us within a half hour.  People were reporting seeing tornados where it was already raining, & the meteorologists were seeing cloud rotation close to me.

When the storm was about 10 minutes away & a few towns over, the weatherman said, "There is definite cloud rotation.  We can't confirm whether or not a tornado is already on the gound.  It's heading for Renee's house (I know I souldn't joke about this, but wouldn't that have been funny?).  You have 10 minutes to get into the basement."

And so, that is what I did.  I took my laptop, knowing I would lose power & not get news reports from the TV.  I just hoped the internet would hold out.  It did not, by the way. 

Next I trapped my 2 girl cats in the basement, which was easy enough to do with a bag of treats.  Then, I had to carry my dog downstairs.  She had never even seen a flight of stairs until we lived in this house, & she is not brave enough to venture down.  Once that was done, I had to fight with my boy cat.  He doesn't like to be held, so it was an  epic battle...that I ultimately won.  I essentially hog-tied my cat, covered his head with my shirt & ran down the stairs while trying desperately to hold on.

Once my fur babies were safely downstairs, I didn't dare open the door.  In my panic, it didn't occur to me to grab my flashlight or candles or anything I might actually need.   No, no, instead there I was with 3 misbehaving cats, a terrified dog, my cell phone & a laptop that soon proved to be worhtless when the internet failed.

In an attempt to keep myself calm, I talked to my mom & MIL periodically.  I had no idea what was going on.  There was no way for me to know what the situation with the storm was.  My only view of the outside world was through a tiny (& dirty, because I don't clean it) basement window.  I couldn't see anything because the sky was black, except for occasional pink lightening.

I'll be honest, I was pretty freaking terrified.  I was also sure this was not going to end well.  Thankfully, it did.  We got a severe thunderstorm & nothing more.  Everyone was safe.

We were without power for a few hours, so when I ventured back upstairs I lit every candle in the house & read a book by flashlight.

DJ got home shortly after the power came back on.  And although I was able to laugh a little about my disaster precautions, I was still a little on edge.

In hindsight everyone will probably think it was silly of me to go so overboard, but I don't think it was.  Not only did the newscaster say it was specifically headed to my town & I had 10 minutes to take cover, but I knew this was coming since 3 in the afternoon.

Call it a message, or maybe a sixth sense, but I was sure this storm was going to be bad & I needed to be awake when it arrived.

I guess the moral of my story is this:  trust your instincts.  They're right more often than you think.

I've got a confession to make.

I feel like this post may mean some of my followers go running for the hills.  I'll be sad to see you go, & I don't mean to offend anyone, but this is my blog & I'll always be honest & true to myself here.  So there's the disclaimer.

Most of you know that I work in a nursing home.  Not too long ago I was standing outside of one of the resident's rooms gathering supplies before I went in.  My linen cart was up against a wall, & I could not see into the room.  However, I suddenly knew there was a man in her room.  He was sitting in a chair that's there for visitors, & he was just watching her sleep.  I quickly went around the corner into her room, & of course no one was there.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened, & it's kind of hard to explain.  I typically do not see things that aren't there - which I guess is a good thing, because that would make my crazy.  What happens to me is that I "see" things in my mind - sometimes images, sometimes what I call "mini-movies."  Although there was no one physically sitting in that chair, I know he was there.


Ever since I was small I've had the feeling that there were spirits in this world.  I think everyone has had the sense that someone was watching them when they know they're alone or has believed that they've received a message from a loved one that's no longer living.  And that was pretty much the extent of my experiences with this sort of thing up until a few years ago.

In the last few years I've met some people that I've come to love & trust very deeply.  I've discovered that I have what I believe is a gift, & I'm beginning to nurture that more than I have in the past.

I talked about the man in the chair to one of the people who is closest to me.  The experience happened so fast & it kind of caught me off guard at the time.  It was a brief image, so I didn't have a lot of detail about how the man looked - but it was definitely a male, non-threatening presence.  Although it certainly could have been her husband, I didn't get the sense that this person was just visiting. 

The conclusion we came to is this:  since I am sensitive to other worldly things to begin with, working in a nursing home is certainly going to open some doors for experiences. 

I'm not saying that I can predict someone's death, & I don't want to.  There have been resident's who have passed away completely unexpectedly.  And yet, I feel I have gotten other "messages" in my time there that I wasn't fully able to understand at the time.

In the last few days I feel like I've gotten confirmation of what I experienced that night. 

The resident who was visited has cancer.  She can no longer walk, & so she is in bed all the time.  Her family lives out of state, so she doesn't get visitors very often.  It is obvious that she is not happy.

Her family came to visit a few days ago, & this resident told them that she is ready to die.  She has begun to refuse medication, & is eating less & less by the day.  She is now in what we call the terminal stage of her life, & we are instructed to do the best we can to keep her comfortable.  It is now only a matter of time.

This was not meant to be another of my sad stories about work.  I haven't mentioned this type of thing before because I wasn't really sure how to approach it.  But after this has unfolded, I felt compelled to get it off my chest.  It's something I do plan to continue to write about in the future, but it certainly won't be an everyday topic.  I'm not the the business of shoving my beliefs down someone else's throat.

That being said, I welcome your feedback - whether you agree or disagree.  The only thing I would ask is that you be kind.  You may not agree with the beliefs of me or someone else who comments about it, & that's fine.  But that doesn't warrant attacks on that person.